What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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MONICA HOOPER NWA Democrat-Gazette T he "freshest" bluegrass, soul, funk, pop and so much more will be at the Momentary next weekend. FreshGrass festival will bring performances from Mavis Staples, Caamp, Elle King, Alison Brown, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, The Del McCoury Band, Tank and the Bangas, Cimafunk, Willie Watson, Sierra Ferrell and more. Regional favorites Melissa Carper, Willi Carlisle, Arkansauce Combo Chimbita, The Jacob Jolliff Band, Alsarah & the Nubatones, and Mesafa will also perform during the May 19-20 weekend. "Our aim is to offer a diverse lineup of trailblazers and emerging artists right here in the Heartland. Our live music programming is dedicated to spotlighting music of the moment, infused with new ideas across a variety of genres," says Emily Neuman, associate marketing strategy director at Crystal Bridges Museum & the Momentary. The House of Songs in Bentonville also steps in to create "music of the moment," with the annual FreshSongs sessions presented on the first evening of the festival. For these sessions, a small group of musicians lives together at The House of Songs in Bentonville for a week while working on material that will be presented at the festival. "It's one of my favorite projects that we do all year long," says Graham Weber, artistic director for the nonprofit music organization. "Everyone gets to write with everyone; everyone has their own pairings," he explains. After writing a collection of songs, artists will record demos of the songs at Haxton Road Studios in Bentonville. "Then on Friday, we'll put together the best of those songs and make sure that everybody has equal stage time," Weber explains. This year's lineup includes old friends and new faces, among them singer-songwriter Judy Blank from The Netherlands. She performed an award- winning duet "Never Said A Word" with local country crooner Dylan Earl in 2021. She has also worked with The House of Songs before on a project similar to FreshGrass, Weber explains. Americana singer-songwriter Shannon Wurst and musician Billy Keene of Western Massachusetts, who have worked with The House of Songs before, will welcome new faces such as Jesse Aycock, a musician out of Tulsa, and Toronto-based artist Kaia Kater. "She's a banjo player and plays guitar. She's a great songwriter, a great singer. She's done a couple of other projects like this with us in the past," Weber adds. "Then another new artist to us is Lizzie No, and she's based in Brooklyn. She's been touring the country playing great rooms, and she plays the harp as well as guitar and is a vocalist and songwriter as well," Weber says. Another familiar face at this year's FreshGrass Festival will be Willi Carlisle, who has participated in FreshSongs in the past. "Willi is not officially part of our cohort this time, but he's become one of my best friends over the years," Weber adds. "That's the best part of my job. We've been able to work with Willi for years and offer some different opportunities for him in different parts of the world. He's so talented, and really taking advantage of every opportunity that's been given to him." Carlisle will perform on the main stage starting at 4:30 p.m. May 19. He teased a new album via social media earlier this year and is currently playing sold-out shows nationwide. May 14-20, 2023 What's up! 9 See FreshGrass Page 10 Fresh On The Grass Festival brings harvest of music to Momentary The 2023 lineup for Fresh Grass at the Momentary includes Mavis staples, CaaMp, Elle King, alison Brown, Molly tuttle & Golden highway, the Del McCoury Band, tank and the Bangs, Cimafunk, Willie Watson, sierra Ferrell and more. Regional favorites Melissa Carper, Willi Carlisle and arkansauce will also perform during the May 19-20 weekend, along with special performances curated by the house of songs in Bentonville, activities, local food and drink, retail vendors and more. (Courtesy photo/Douglas Mason)